I just purchased the PICKit 3 ... I already had MPLAB IDE installed and the Lesson PDF asks me to install MPLAB C Compiler for the PIC18 v3.13 - so I donwloaded and installed the latest ... mplablc18 v3.43 (lite version).

Part of lesson 1 navigates to C:\MCC18\lkr to include some linker files - but I don't have that directory. I am supposed to include the following files ...

At this point, the PC IDE just freezes. It flashes that it is connecting in the bottom left corner of the IDE. A progress bar keeps filling up and starting over. 10 minutes of nothing. So I shut it down and reset the PICKKit3 (holding down its button while giving it power.

After a bit of deliberation, I download MPLAB X and try it. No luck. This time, the whole app just shuts down after the "RS download complete" line.

I wondered if it was my PC ... so I installed MPLAB X and the compiler on my MAC ...

Target device was not found. You must connect to a target device to use PICkit 3.

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Ok - so after getting this message (I've got two PICKit 3 Debug Express kits) I plug in the other Debug Express target card. No luck. Same error. Since I'm farther along now, I decide to pop the PICKit 3 back into the PC and see what happens.

And great, the IDE works much better (doesn't attempt to download or install firmware) but it reaches the exact same final error: Target Device was not found.